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Question NW3920 to the Minister of Rural Development and Land Reform

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14 December 2017 - NW3920

Profile picture: Hugo, Mr RT

Hugo, Mr RT to ask the Minister of Rural Development and Land Reform

(a) By which date will the (i) agri-park project in the Central Karoo start and (ii) agri-hub be built and (b) what support is given to the mayor of Central Karoo as champion of the project; (2) what number of agri-parks are operational in the Western Cape; (3) what number of small farmers have benefited from the specified projects thus far?

Reply:

1. (a) (i) The Agri-Park initiative was started in 2015 with the development of a district wide Agri-Parks business plan that was signed off by the District Municipality in 2016.

(ii) The Agri-hub construction will start in the 2018/19 financial year; the fencing project is already approved and is at planning stage. A mechanisation centre is also planned for the 2018/19 financial year. The focus in the district has been on the establishment of the Farmer Production Support Unit (FPSUs) in Beaufort West and in Prince Albert.

  • The Beaufort West FPSU is being established on erf 394 in Beaufort West, which has a grazing capacity of 36 Ha/LSU1. It is envisaged that 600 ewes and 20 rams will be housed on this farm.
  • The Prince Albert FPSU (Erf 783 in Prince Albert Municipality) will focus on the production of dried fruit and the facility has been fenced by the RID branch.
  • Remainder of Portion 4 of Farm No. 137, Wolve Kraal in Prince Albert Registration Division, owned by Prince Albert Local Municipality is earmarked for an apricot plantation to supply the FPSU. An Environmental Impact Assessment of the property is currently underway.
  • 33 Narysec Youth are currently at various TVET colleges undergoing mixed farming, animal production, project management, agri-sales and services and marketing learnerships. A further 45 were recruited during 2017 and will be starting their college training in January 2018. These youth will receive accredited training at NQF levels 3 and 4 and after the completion of these learnerships will find themselves placed in the FPSU sites and Agri-hub.

(b) The support to the mayor is provided through the District Joint Operations Centre (DJOC), chaired by the District Municipal Manager. The DJOC meets monthly in the District. Several meetings with the mayor have taken place to apprise him of the progress as well as any issues and challenges that may exist.

2. An Agri-park is a conglomeration of various interventions at the level of an FPSU and the Agri-hub level; the table below shows the work that has commenced in terms of the Agri-Park.

Agri-Park (FPSU/Agri-hub intervention)

Infrastructure

Enterprise Development

Haarlem FPSU

Planning & design
  • Establishing the Marketing Cooperative
  • In the process of Acquiring a Delivery Truck

Suurbraak FPSU

Planning & design
  • Not yet started

Hermanus FPSU

Planning & design
  • The Fisherfolk - 4 Cooperatives, supported with fishing equipment

Ebenaeser FPSU

Planning & design
  • Ebeneaser FPSU- provision of a truck and production Inputs

Saron FPSU

Planning & design
  • 1hh 1ha project approved and will be implemented soon.

Ceres Agri0hub
  • Upgrade of Roads
  • Witzenberg Bulk Electrical Upgrade
  • Yabantu Abattoir has been acquired and has started operating

Beaufort West FPSU

Planning & design
  • Animal Improvement Scheme

Prince Albert FPSU
  • Fencing of the site
  • Not yet started

3. 492 small holder farmers will be benefiting from the projects in the province in the current financial year.

Source file

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